Be Happy
by Kuyuchii
Summary: How Naruto learnt to smile, despite all the odds. SasuNaru fluff, belated birthday fic for xThaumaturgic ;D


**Hiii! so this is dedicated to my lovely amazing awesome friend xThaumaturgic-chan ^^ who was lovely enough not to get mad with me despite the fact that I took way too long to write this for her birthday ;3**

**So, to explain the hideous amount of OOC-ness in this: I think Naruto must have had something nice happen to him to make him smile even though he gets all that crap from the villagers ;D and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Sasuke used to be a happy kid ^^**

**Just to be clear here: I am not a Naruto fan, I like the series, but my knowledge of the plotline is shaky at best ;3**

**So, enjoy! :3**

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha lived a sheltered life. With the Uchiha compound so detached from the rest of the village, it was hardly a surprise that the small raven knew rather little about the outside world.

He was, of course, by no means stupid. As an Uchiha, he had the very best of training, and his mind was not of a dull nature. So he was certainly very curious when, upon a rare outing with his mother, he noticed the small blond boy that seemed to be despised by everyone, sitting alone on a swing in a deserted playground, ignored but for the odious glares sent in his direction.

Pulling on his mother's sleeve, he asked, "Mama, who is that boy?"

Her reaction was even more curious. A look of disgust came over her face and she looked down at the little raven with a serious face.

"Now you listen to me, Sasuke. You are to have nothing to do with that boy, alright?"  
"But why not? Who is he?"  
But his mother was back to talking with a friend, and so the little boy stood at her feet, puzzling over the mysterious blond. He was, as all young boys are, of an inquisitive nature, and was finding it very hard indeed not to run off.

_She won't even notice, she's far too busy..._

Unable to stop himself, he quickly and silently melted into the crowd. He was going to find out who that blond boy was, and nobody was going to stop him.

Naruto sighed. Another day. Another day of hatred, of loathing glares, of people despising him for a reason that was truly beyond him. Was he really too stupid to understand? All these people, he didn't even know them, and they all wished he was dead. Sometimes he wondered whether they would even notice if he did die. He wished he _was_ dead, sometimes-

"Hi."

Dragged from the depressing spiral of thoughts no child his age should have, Naruto looking up in amazement to find a boy around his age, with pale skin and black hair, wearing dark clothes and smiling nervously. He was actually talking to him? It would certainly appear so, after all, wherever Naruto went, public place or no, it always seemed to clear out rather spectacularly fast. The playground the blond currently inhabited was empty except for the two of them.

"Hello. Are you here for a dare?"  
It had happened in the past. Snickering boys, giggling girls had run up to him to say something, their friends hiding further back. But usually they only hurled insults before running off again, not actually offering a greeting.

"Huh? What's that?"  
Naruto could tell he wasn't lying, he could see it in his eyes. He really had no idea what a dare was.

"It doesn't matter. Why are you here? Shouldn't you go back to your mum? She wouldn't be happy if she knew you were here..."  
"How do you know that?"  
"They all hate me. The grown-ups. They won't tell me why though."

"That's mean!"

Naruto smiled softly. This kid was sweet. His face felt weird, but, he guessed, it had been a while since he had last smiled. What cause could he have to smile, shunned by the whole village as he was?  
Well, the whole village except this boy, apparently.

"What's your name, kid?"  
"Hey! I'm not a kid! I'm the same age as you!" the boy yelled, sticking his tongue out.

Naruto chuckled.

"Sorry. What's your name, boy-the-same-age-as-me?"  
"That's better! My name's Sasuke! What's yours?"  
"Sasuke, huh? Nice name. My name's Naruto."

"Cool! Like the food?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome!"  
"So why are you here, Sasuke?"  
"Well, I was shopping with my mama, and then I saw you, and I asked her who you were. And then she said 'You are not to have anything to do with that boy!'" he put on a falsetto voice as a parody of his mother. Naruto smirked slightly.

"But you came anyway?"  
"Well yeah! I wanted to know who you were! And why you looked so sad! Although I still don't know why you looked sad..." Sasuke trailed off.

"Why I look sad? Now that's a hard one..."

Naruto said sarcastically.

"Maybe because I have no family? Maybe because everyone here hates my guts? Or maybe because I can't get any friends because everyone's parents tell them to stay away from me?"

Naruto was on a full-blown rant by now.

"It's not as if I actually did anything! They all hate me, and I don't even know why! And of course, they can't _tell_ me either-"

"It's not true!"

Sasuke's yell made Naruto freeze mid-rant. A brief silence ensued.

"What's not true?" Naruto asked softly, still surprised at the outburst.

"It's not true that everyone here hates your guts! I like you!"

Naruto gasped lightly. Those three words, he had heard them used so often, but never directed at _him. _  
"You... like..._ me?_"

A small smile spread on the other boy's face.

"Well, yeah! You're really nice!"

Slowly, oh so slowly, a beautiful smile spread across the blonde's features.

Sasuke gasped.

"You look...-"  
"SASUKE UCHIHA! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? DID I NOT _EXPRESSIVELY_ FORBID YOU TO COME HERE?"

The piercingly shrill voice of Sasuke's mother interrupted their discussion. Naruto held his ears.

"You weren't kidding when you did that falsetto..."

"AND _YOU!_ HOW DARE COME ANYWHERE NEAR MY SON?"

"I think you'll find he came 'anywhere near' me."

"IS THAT ANYWAY TO ADRESS YOUR ELDERS?"

"Probably not."

"HOW DARE YOU-"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Sasuke's yell left both his mother and the boy in question flabbergasted. The simple fact that the little boy could manage to shout quite that loud was pretty impressive in itself.

"He's my friend! And I don't want you, or anyone else, to make him feel sad!"

The small raven quickly turned to the shell-shocked Uzumaki.

"Don't be sad anymore! You've got me now! I'll always be here for you! Show the village what you can do!"

And with that, the young Uchiha was pulled away, leaving Naruto, sitting and staring into the distance.

"Show the village... what I can do?"  
A smile spread over the boy's face.

"Thank you, Sasuke."

And Naruto Uzumaki was happy.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! ^w^**

**I actually have the beginnings of a second chapter, so if you want it, let me know ;3**

**And a grossly belated Happy Birthday, Michelle-chan! ^^**

**~ Neko K xx**


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